Liberty Wealth Management LLC Boosts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Liberty Wealth Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,617.5%, acquiring a total of 59,065 shares worth approximately $5.3 million.
• Several hedge funds also boosted their investments in Merck during the first quarter, reflecting increased institutional interest in the company, which now has 76.07% of its stock owned by institutional investors.
• Merck recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, resulting in an annualized payout of $3.24, which equates to a dividend yield of 4.1%.

Liberty Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 1,617.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,065 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 55,626 shares during the quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company's stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock worth $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock worth $2,997,000 after buying an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company's stock worth $5,118,000 after buying an additional 6,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the first quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 32,558 shares of the company's stock worth $2,922,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on MRK shares. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $79.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $120.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.63% and a net margin of 25.79%. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.

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